Counting Scars
by SomethingMoreCreative
Summary: Jason didn't expect any of that to come up at the dinner table, and he definitely didn't expect it to mean anything. In which Jason doesn't understand that Piper might actually be concerned about her scars, and he has to do something about it. Jasper. Mild Percabeth. Post-HoH. Complete.


**A/N: So I kind of got this idea when I read a different story by one of my best friends here on FanFiction and it just seemed to expand and take up too much room in my mind until I wrote it down. **

**Go read the source of my inspiration after you finish this. It's called Mirrors by xXxJaceInWonderlandxXx. The link is on my profile!**

**I've got some new ideas and things that I'm working on. I'm going to put up a new poll, so please go check it out. **

**This is set post-HoH and before BoO. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own ****_Percy Jackson and the Olympians _****or ****_The Heroes of Olympus. _**

* * *

"I counted them this morning."

Annabeth's comment broke the awful silence that filled the mess hall. The seven demigods had been eating breakfast together, a thing they had started once Percy and Annabeth had gotten back from Tartarus. They all took a break from watch for a small minute, just to be together. Just in case.

Jason looked over at Annabeth and frowned. He knew that she hadn't been talking that much since they had gotten out of Tartarus, but they were both doing way better than Jason thought they would.

Jason watched as Percy calmly shoveled a pile of eggs into his mouth. After he finished chewing he said, "How many?"

"Twenty-seven, including all of my previous scars." Annabeth said just as calmly, as if she were talking about how many pairs of shoes she had instead of how many scars covered her body.

Jason stiffened. He hadn't heard Annabeth or Percy talk about Tartarus at all. It had been a few weeks, and apparently they had decided to play it off as no big deal. After they had gotten back on the Argo II and they had taken a shower and eaten dinner and gotten some rest, they had been fine. The only way Jason could tell that anything was wrong was the way that they touched each other. When Jason looked, they were _always_ touching. They took the same watches. They sat beside each other. They slept in the same bed at night.

And they were so lucky that Coach Hedge had gone with Nico and Reyna back to Camp Half-Blood. They would have been in so much trouble if he had ever found them in another compromising position.

"That's not bad." Percy said, but his voice sounded a little weird. "You even counted that one behind your ear?"

"Yep." Annabeth said. She kind of made it sound like the conversation was over.

Beside Jason, he heard a piece of silverware fall to the floor and a dull _thud. _

Piper had dropped her fork and slumped toward the table. Her eyes were closed, and Jason thought that he could already hear her snoring.

Jason cursed and picked her head up, carefully moving her plate and cup so they wouldn't spill.

She had been on watch all night last night. The day before, there had been a few attacks when Percy, Jason, and Annabeth had been on watch, and after it was over, they had all three gone to bed. Jason cursed himself for completely forgetting that Piper had to pull a double shift.

"There were some attacks last night, but Piper handled them all by herself." Frank said from his spot at the other end of the table. He had dark circles under his eyes as well, and his shoulders were curving in. "She charmspoke until I thought she was stuck in it."

Frank had worked his way up Jason's friend ladder quicker than most people normally did. The first time that Jason had met him, he hadn't been too sure. Frank had been awkward and a little weird, but Percy had trusted him so much, and some of that had eventually rubbed off onto Jason. After Percy had fallen into Tartarus, Frank had really stepped up and became a leader. He picked up the slack when Jason stumbled. Jason really appreciated him for that.

"All right." Jason said with a nod. "I'm taking her to bed. I'll be back for watch in just a few minutes."

Percy nodded, but winked at him when no one was paying attention.

Jason rolled his eyes and stood, scooping Piper up bridal style. She was still fast asleep, and she curled into the crook of his arms and fisted his t-shirt. He tried not to smile too much as he turned away, but the way that Leo and Percy were cat-calling made him doubt his acting skills.

While they had been on this quest, Jason hadn't got to spend much alone time with Piper. They had been way too busy trying to stay alive to worry about having a minute to themselves. Jason thought that it wasn't fair at all. Why couldn't this war just be over? Why couldn't he just have Piper for a few minutes without him having to worry about the world ending?

Jason made it to his room and carefully opened the door without jostling Piper too much. He shut it behind him with his foot, and made his way over to his bed.

He carefully set her down, and only hesitated for a few seconds before he pulled her shoes and socks off. Her hair was tied up on top of her head, and Jason removed the rubber band.

Piper hummed and blinked her eyes open. "Jason?"

"Hey, Pipes," he said. "You need a nap, huh?"

She hummed again in conformation and moved her hands to her jeans, unbuttoning them and pushing the zipper down. "Help me."

Jason felt his face heat up. He wondered if she would be doing this if she were fully conscious. Probably not.

But then again, they had been dating for a considerably long time now. Sure, they weren't anything like Percy and Annabeth, but they were close. All they had ever really done before was kiss and stuff, but they needed to move along eventually, right? It was normal to take small steps forward in a relationship, right?

Jason wasn't really good with stuff like this. He hadn't ever been in a relationship-much less a committed relationship-and he wasn't positive on what to do in situations like this. He _knew _that he didn't want to screw anything up between them. Piper was one of the only good things that he had in his life anymore.

What if he did something to mess that up?

Although, he knew that Piper trusted him. She was probably really disappointed that he wasn't letting their relationship move along to fast (Jason had a few issues, even he would admit to that) and she probably wouldn't mind if he did help her.

And why couldn't he? She was _his _girlfriend.

Jason smiled lightly, trying to ignore the blush on his cheeks as he grasped the end of her jeans and lightly pulled them off of her legs. He was sure that he made some kind of squeaking noise when more and more and _more _of her long, tan legs were revealed with each passing second.

If he did, Piper didn't say anything about it. Her eyes were only held half open, and she looked like she was zoned out.

Jason ignored her and tossed her jeans to the floor behind him. He grabbed both of her legs in one of his hands and gently pushed her farther onto his bed so he could pull the sheets up around her. He leaned down and kissed her forehead gently.

"Get some sleep, Piper," he said surprisingly easily. "I'll come back and get you in a little while."

He started to lean back up, but Piper caught him and grabbed a fistful of his shirt. "No. Stay with me."

"Pipes, I'm on watch right now. Percy and Annabeth need my help." He said, trying to pry her fingers away from his shirt.

Piper grasped his fingers and tried to tug him down onto the bed. "No," she moaned lightly. "They can handle it without you."

He tried to argue with her-he really did-but she just looked so vulnerable and so damn _pretty _that his argument was collapsing on itself. Percy and Annabeth could handle it without him for a little while, right? He had worked hard yesterday, and maybe he did deserve a little bit of a break.

Before he knew it, he was unbuckling his belt and tossing his jeans to the floor beside Piper's. He couldn't help but think that he was losing some of his "Roman-ness," but he really didn't care anymore. Maybe he was turning a little bit Greek, but as long as he could keep Piper, he didn't care. Not one bit.

Jason curved himself around Piper's snoozing body and let himself fall to sleep right beside her.

Ω

Jason was disoriented when he woke up. He was in his room and on his bed, tangled up in the sheets. He was lying on his back, and he could feel something soft tracing up and down his arm.

He opened his eyes, blinking away his drowsiness.

How long had he been asleep? He was supposed to be helping Percy and Annabeth while they were on watch, wasn't he? Oh man, they were going to be so mad at him when he finally got up there and-

"Good morning," someone whispered in Jason's ear.

He was on high alert immediately. Was there someone _in his bed with him?_

Jason's eyes finally focused, and he could see a mass of brown hair. That was when he realized that he could feel a hand on his chest and another leg tangled with both of his.

"What time is it?" Jason asked. His anxiety receded when he realized who it was.

"I don't even know nor do I care." Piper said, snuggling closer to him. One of her hands squeezed his bicep tightly before trailing down his arm again.

"You do realize that I was supposed to be on watch, right?" Jason asked, but even as he said it he let one of his arms curve under her body and wrap around her hip.

She smiled smugly, closing her eyes for a few seconds. "And yet here you are, curled up in bed with _me. _How un-Roman of you. What would Reyna say?"

Jason smiled and ignored the jab at his heritage. He knew that she was (probably) kidding. "Shut up."

Piper laughed quietly and buried her face against him.

They stayed in his bed together for a long time. Piper lazily let her fingers trail all over his body, and Jason held one of her hands and listened to her heartbeat. It was nice. Jason was glad that he was finally getting a few minutes (or however long it had been) to be alone with Piper.

After a little while longer, Piper untangled herself from him and leaned up. Jason felt his face turn red when he realized that she wasn't wearing a shirt. All he could see was the smooth, tan skin of her back and her muscles moving as she stretched.

But, she started talking and thankfully didn't notice that he was firmly keeping his eyes away (he was trying to at least, but he was _definitely _failing) from her black bra and curvy chest.

"I'm starving. I didn't get to eat anything at breakfast before I fell asleep. Do you want to go back to the mess hall and see if-" Piper picked that exact moment to look back at him probably drooling over what he was seeing.

She frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Why is your face red? What's-?" Piper studied his face, but when she saw where he was looking, she looked down and said, "Oh."

He tried to laugh, but he sounded _way too _nervous. "Yeah, oh. Where's your shirt?"

Piper shrugged, and Jason almost groaned out loud at the motion. "I was hot so I took it off. Is that a problem?"

Jason shook his head too quickly.

She went from being a little embarrassed to playful in less than a second and she poked him in the chest and leaned even closer to him. "You might want to close your jaw, Jason. You'll catch bugs."

He felt his face heat up even more, and he averted his eyes quickly, looking down at the wooden floor of his cabin. "Um, sorry."

Piper laughed quietly, and turned his face back toward her. He fought to keep his eyes trained on hers.

"It's fine, Jason, sheesh. I'm just messing with you," she nudged him slightly. "Besides, it's really flattering that you look at me like that. I figured that you just… didn't."

Jason felt like a car had hit him and pounded him into the pavement. How could she honestly think that he didn't look at her and just… _want _her? She was so incredibly beautiful. How could anyone not look at her like that?

Even though he was really nervous and kind of embarrassed, he wrapped one of his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. "Piper McLean, you are so insanely pretty and gorgeous. Trust me, I look at you like this _every single_ day. And, in case you haven't noticed, everyone does. I honestly can't believe that you think people don't because there's not one part of you that_ isn't_ pretty."

Piper looked up at him, and he thought that her eyes looked a little watery. "You really think so?"

He hugged her even closer, "I know so."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Jason listened to Piper breath, and he didn't want to ever move.

"But," Piper started suddenly. "Annabeth had a point at breakfast. Well, maybe she did. I only caught her first sentence before I passed out."

Jason tried to think quickly. What had Annabeth said at breakfast that had Piper doubting how pretty she was? As far as Jason could remember, she only said a few words to Percy about how many scars she had and then-

Scars. That was it.

Piper was honestly worried about her scars? When Jason looked at her, he hadn't really ever noticed any gigantic scars. Sure, there was the occasional white or red line somewhere on her arm or leg, but to his recollection, she didn't have any really bad ones.

Suddenly, Jason got an extremely good idea, and he stood and pulled Piper off of his bed.

He ignored her protesting and steered her toward the mirror that stood behind his door. He kept one of his arms around her waist for a few seconds until he backed away so she was the only one in the mirror.

"Count them," Jason said.

She didn't skip a beat. She pointed to her ankle and bent down to touch a small line in her skin. "One, two, three," she counted quietly as she moved up her right and left leg. Piper counted out loud as she moved all up her body, and when she finally stood up straight, there were tears in her eyes.

"Fourteen," she said. Her voice broke.

Jason studied her as she stood in front of the mirror. She was staring brokenly at her reflection, and her shoulders were slumped. She was so beautiful standing here, and it hurt Jason's heart to see her upset about something so irrelevant.

"Those are fourteen marks on your skin that make you even prettier." Jason said as he stepped forward to wrap his arms around her waist. He rested his head on her shoulder and pressed a kiss to her skin.

"It's just because it's you," Piper said. "You have to say that."

"I don't have to say anything, but it really shouldn't matter. I should be the only one you care about, right?" Jason questioned. His voice sounded rougher than he meant for it to.

She sighed. "That's not what I meant. Of course you're the only one that matters, but you don't tell me what you really think. You just tell me what you think I want to hear."

Jason didn't let himself get mad like he thought he should. If any one part of his Roman-ness had prevailed, it was his ability to keep his temper under control. He wasn't going to let himself get upset with the one person he didn't want mad at him.

He didn't let go of her, and instead he spun her around, making her face him.

"I tell you exactly what I think of you every _single _time you ask me. I have never lied to you. I honestly think that these scars are one of the most beautiful things about you. They make you who you are, and if that's not the most honest thing that I've ever said, may Jupiter strike me with lightning right now. Piper, this is _you. _And you are so gorgeous," Jason let his voice drop to a whisper. "I love you, and I love _all_ of these scars. Do you understand?"

She nodded weakly and snuggled into his arms.

Jason was enjoying just standing with her and relaxing, but she shifted until she was looking up at him.

"Can we count yours?" She asked.

Jason looked down and caught her kaleidoscope eyes flickering with a few different colors and thoughts. Her hands were already slipping under the hem of his shirt, but she didn't move to pull it over his head.

He nodded and let his arms fall from her body.

Piper gently pulled his shirt over his head. He thought he heard her breath catch, but he wasn't positive. Her eyes wandered over his chest, and her fingers fluttered in the same spot above his collar bone.

He nudged her gently, "Pipes, did you forget how to count?"

She shook her head and let her eyes glance up at his face. She blinked a few times before looking back down to his chest and pointing to a thin, white line just below his shoulder.

"One," she whispered, pressing her lips against the scar.

Piper moved down his body, pressing her fingertips and her lips to every scar she found. She had moved all the way down his chest, his back, his legs, and his arms. Now, she was leaning up, and she set her fingers on the scar right above his lip.

"Twenty-two," she finished counting.

Before Jason could say anything, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Her fingers tangled in the back of his hair, and she leaned up, pressing her body against his.

Jason could have stood there in his room with Piper all day long. When he was with her, he felt like he could be himself. It felt like he was _home_ when he was with her. And he never wanted to leave her side.

Piper pulled back and stared at him for a few seconds. Her red lips were swollen, and her hair was frizzy from his hands running through it so much.

She smiled lightly and pressed her forehead to his, "Do I need to give you a "You're Beautiful Even With Your Scars" speech?"

"Nah, I'm good. I actually love my scars," Jason joked, poking her in the stomach and pulling her even closer.

Piper giggled and pressed a kiss to his neck. "Me too. Now, let's get dressed and go back to the real world, okay?"

He nodded, but before he let her slip out of his arms, he stared at her and said, "I love you."

Her smile widened, and she pecked him on the lips again. "I love you too, now will you hand me my jeans?"

Ω

Jason and Piper finally managed to get dressed and out of his room.

He dropped Piper off at the mess hall and ran up the stairs to the deck. The wind hit his face, and Jason shielded his eyes from the sun.

Leo was standing at the top deck with his hands clenching the steering wheel. Jason could hear him singing over the roar of the wind. Frank was coming up to the deck from the second set of stairs, and Percy and Annabeth were standing together at the center of the deck. When they spotted him, they both started walking toward him.

Jason stood extremely still when Annabeth walked up to him. She smirked at him for a few seconds before she let go of Percy's hand and jogged down the stairs.

Percy looked him up and down before he said, "I hope you had fun. Annabeth and I did a double shift so now you and Piper can hold the fort for a while. We'll be in my room."

"Thanks, man," Jason said as Percy laughed and brushed past him.

Jason sighed. It was probably going to be along night, but as long as Piper was on watch with him, it would be okay.

"Jason!" Leo yelled from a few yards away. "Congrats, man!"

"On what?" Jason yelled back.

Leo wiggled his eyebrows and made an inappropriate hand gesture, "Congrats on finally hitting it with Piper! It took you guys long enough!"

He blushed and clenched his fists. He couldn't believe that Leo was actually thinking like that. Or at least, he was making fun of Jason. If it was either one, Jason still wanted to punch his lights out.

"Congrats on _what?" _Jason heard behind him.

He spun around to find Piper standing on the top step with a bagel and a Diet Coke in her hand. Her eyes were on fire, and she there could have been steam coming from her ears if Jason looked hard enough.

He could hear both Leo and Frank cackling from laughter as Jason tried to explain what was happening, but once Piper round-house kicked him in the stomach, he fell to the deck.

It was going to be a _really _long night.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading, and leave a review!**

**-SomethingMoreCreative**


End file.
